Draft Text on Ag Negotiations Circulated at WTO
Turkey's Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy, chair of the World Trade Organization's agriculture negotiating body, introduced a draft negotiating text on Jan. 30, which could serve as the basis for talks in the run-up to the 13th Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. The five-page draft text "builds on the negotiating submissions and interventions that members have made" along with "recent consultations in various formats."
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The text includes the "importance of special and differential treatment in favor of developing countries" and the "potential exemption of [least developed countries] LDCs from any future farm support reduction commitments to be agreed in the negotiations," the WTO said. There also is a factual report summarizing members' positions on "all agricultural topics," the WTO said.
The draft text then outlines ways forward on "seven negotiating topics." The topics are support to the farm sector, access to agricultural markets, a new special safeguard mechanism which allows LDC to raise tariffs temporarily due to sudden import surges or price drops, food export restrictions, export competition, measures similar to export subsidies, cotton, and food procurement.
The most challenging issue is how to come up with a "permanent solution" to the difficulties under WTO rules when buying food as part of a nation's "public stockholding programme," the WTO said. While various LDCs pushed for a solution based on their May 2022 proposal, other nations "expressed strong reservations with the proposal," suggesting members address the topic "in parallel with the question of domestic support."
The chair noted two options: adopt a permanent solution "based on a to-be-negotiated text in an annex" or "setting parameters for further negotiations in this area" by MC14. The chair said he will host a series of "drafting sessions" this month.